Definition:

Most employees are entitled to receive 8 hours of pay on any day the Department or Federal Government is closed for a legal public holiday. The ten legal public holidays are identified below. Employees with unusual tours of duty or who work a compressed work schedule are entitled to receive the pay for the number of hours they would normally work on a legal public holiday.

Holiday Pay for Employees on Alternate Work Schedules:

An employee on a compressed work schedule (5/4-9 or 4/10) is entitled to pay for then number of hours (8,9, or 10) normally worked for any day that the Department or Federal Government is closed for a holiday. For example, you work a 5/4-9 schedule and a holiday falls on a Monday. If you normally work nine (9) hours on that day, you are entitled to nine hours of pay for that holiday.
A full time employee on a maxiflex or other non-compressed work schedule, including a traditional 8-hour workday, is entitled to 8 hours pay for any day on which the Department of Federal Government is closed for a legal public holiday. The supervisor and employee are responsible for ensuring that the employee works the remaining number of hours (generally 72 hours) necessary to fulfill the work requirement for the pay period.

In Lieu of Holiday:

If an employee's regular day off (RDO or AWS day) falls on a holiday, the employee is entitled to an in lieu of holiday or the supervisor may approve a change of the regular day off. For example, an employee with a Monday RDO would normally take the following Tuesday as the in lieu of holiday or the supervisor may approve the employee to be off on the preceding Friday.

Holiday Pay for Part-time Employees:

If a holiday occurs on a day within a part-time employee's scheduled tour of duty (including those days on which flexible hours are scheduled) the employee is entitled to basic pay for the number of hours which the employee is scheduled to work for that day. If a part-time employee does not have a typical schedule, the employee may be paid the average of the number of hours worked in prior weeks on days corresponding to the holiday.

Legal Basis:
5 USC Chapter 63 (Sections 6103-6104 )

OPM Regulation:
5 CFR 610 (Subpart B)

Legal Public Holidays:

· New Year's Day (January 1)

· Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (third Monday in January)

· Washington's Birthday (third Monday in February)

· Memorial Day (last Monday in May)

· Independence Day (July 4)

· Labor Day (first Monday in September)

· Columbus Day (second Monday in October)

· Veterans Day (November 11)

· Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November)

· Christmas Day (December 25)